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There’s been a six hundred percent increase in people who identify themselves as vegans in the United States from 2014 to 2017. According to a report by research firm GlobalData, only one percent of U.S. citizens claimed to be vegan in 2014. While in 2017, that number rose to six percent. (Vegan Statistics)
What is a Vegan Diet Exactly?
A vegan diet typically refers to a diet that excludes all animal products such as meat, fish, poultry, eggs, animal milks, honey and their derivatives. (Hood)
Why do People Choose to Take Vegan Diets?
There are mainly three reasons for why would so many people go vegan all of a sudden – for the animals, for their own health, or for the environment. Some people choose vegan diets in order to take a stand against animal cruelty, some people choose vegan diets because they believe that well-planned vegan diets can help them keep healthy and fit easier, and some hope that using vegan diets can lower their carbon footprints by avoiding all animal products, which could be a way to protect the environment.
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Benefits of Vegan Diets
According to the article “Vegetarianism: The Basic Facts” by Taylor Wolfram, vegan diets have plenty of potential health benefits if taken properly, including lower risks of getting obesity. Obesity is often associated with serious chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. Thus taking a well-planned vegan diets can often lead to a reduced risk of getting those chronic diseases as well. What’s more, vegan diets always equal to a lower proportion of calories from fat and fewer overall calories plusmore fiber, potassium and vitamin C, thus it’s easier for people to take vegan diets to stay fit as well.
Drawbacks of Vegan Diets
According to both David Rogerson’s journal “Vegan Diets: Practical Advice for Athletes and Exercisers.” and Sandra Hood’s article “The Vegan Diet”, if a vegan diet is not constructed nicely, it’s impossible for people who take them to reach the recommended value of macro and micronutrients. Nutrients like vitamin b12, iodine, calcium, omega-3 fatty acids are all very important to human body while they can hardly be found in plants.
Vegan diets also cannot provide as much protein and calories as omnivores diets hence athletes and exercisers do need a good strategic selection and management of food choices, special attention being paid to the achievement of energy, macro and micronutrient recommendations, and appropriate supplementation in order to achieve their most basic needs. With that said, vegan diets only work the best with sufficient and right supplements, which would be costly most of the time. Thus the extra cost could be another drawback of vegan diets.
After looking at this fact sheet, one should keep in mind that before choosing to go full vegan, doing research and knowing what he needs to fulfill the drawbacks of vegan diets is really important. If he knows what he’s doing and is willing to spend time getting those supplements he needs, then choosing a vegan diet is definitely not a bad choice for him.
Works Cited
- Hood, Sandra. “The Vegan Diet” Practice Nurse. 2/8/2008, Vol. 35 Issue 3, p13-17. 4p. 2 Color Photographs, 1 Chart. https://web-a-ebscohost-com.ezp.pasadena.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=23&sid=776daedc-2ef9-44a8-98bf-334ba8aa48a9%40sdc-v-sessmgr03&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=31505040&db=hch
- Rogerson, David. “Vegan Diets: Practical Advice for Athletes and Exercisers.” Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, vol. 14, no. 1, 2017, doi:10.1186/s12970-017-0192-9. https://web-a-ebscohost-com.ezp.pasadena.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&sid=3d900ad2-e637-4fb5-ae43-38ae61082607%40sdc-v-sessmgr03
- “Vegan Statistics: Why The Global Rise in Plant-Based Eating Isn’t A Fad.” Food Revolution Network, Food Revolution Network, 7 May 2018, https://foodrevolution.org/blog/vegan-statistics-global/
- Wolfram, Taylor. “Vegetarianism The Basic Facts.” Eat Right. Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics., 1 Oct. 2018, www.eatright.org/food/nutrition/vegetarian-and-special-diets/vegetarianism-the-basic-facts.
